Charles j



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

CHARLES J. HOBE, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

MACHINE FOR BUNDLING FIRE-WOOD.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,753, dated June 19, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. HOBE, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Bundling Fire-lVood; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which-Figure l represents a longitudinal vertical section of my invention.Fig. 2, a plan or top view of ditto, the cover being removed to exposethe working parts. Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section of ditto, theline :c Fig. l, indicating the plane of section.

Similar letters of reference in the three views indicate correspondingparts.

This invention consists in a certain arrangement of parts for formingthe bundles, for retaining them ready to receive the cords, and forcarrying the cords, and bringing the same over the bundles, in such amanner that the pieces of wood, which are fed into the machine, arethrown out in bundles of the required size.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation, with reference tothe drawings.

A frame A, made of timber or of any other suitable material, supportsthe working parts of my machine. The wood is brought into the machinethrough a hopper B, the sides of which are made out of several sectionsa, (see Fig. 3) united to a half circular hinged bottom piece ZJ, whichconnects by means of a hooked bar c, with a cogged wheel (Z, and whichis subjected to the action of a spring e in such a manner that byrotating the wheel cl, the sides of the hopper receive a shaking motion,causing the pieces of wood to drop down to the bottom of the hopper.

C is a reciprocating curved knife, which is operated by means of a cranke, on the driving shaft D, and as this shaft rotates, said knife ismoved forward, and made to pass through the pieces of wood in thehopper, cutting off a quantity of wood just sufiicient to make a bundle.The knife in my machine is represented as being half circular, to formwith the half circular bot tom of the hopper a complete bundle, but itmust be remarked that I do not confine myself to any precise form of theknife, nor of the bottom of the hopper, for it will be easily understoodthat the knife might form a larger or smaller portion of a circle or ofany other curve, and that instead of making the bundles round, theymight be made square, or in any other desirable shape. After the bundlehas thus been cut off by the action of the knife C, it is forced by theaction of the plunger E, into a tapering hole f, in the plate F, whichforms the front of the hopper.

The plunger E, receives its motion from a crank g, on the driving shaftand the two cranks e, and g, are in such relative position to eachother, that the knife and the plunger act at the proper time, and in theproper intervals. By giving to the hole f, in the plate F, a taperingform, the bundle is allowed to pass in freely, compressed, and it isfirmly grasped by the small end of the hole, and'retained ready toreceive the cord. Each bundle is forced into t-he plate F, abouthalfway, or a` little over, so that the cords when put on are as near aspossible in the middle. The cords h., which are all tied to the requiredwidth, are slipped on a removable sleeve G, which is placed loosely overa tube H, that forms the guide for the mechanism, designed to carry thecord and to place it around the bundle. The cord carrier H, consists ofa conical slotted tube of thinvmetal, screwed to the reciprocatingsliding shaft z', which connects by means of an arm k', with a slide z",to which motion is imparted by a rod j from the driving shaft.

The large end of this conical tube is split open, as clearly shown inthe drawing, so as to allow its sides to spread to a certain eX- tentover the bundle, and a nose k, on its upper side serves to carry thecord from the sleeve G, and to retain the same until taken oif by thefingers I, which are attached to a reciprocating sliding hollow shaft Z.This shaft receives its motion through the same rod j and slide z",which impart-s motion to the shaft z', and the fingers I, are arrangedin such a manner, that the same, in moving up on the surface of thecord-carrier H, begin to spread, and that they sweep close over thesurface of the same, so as to push the cord from the carrier H, over itslarge end on the bundle of wood protruding from the tapering hole f. Itis obvious that the motion imparted to the cord-carrier H, and to thefingers I, must be at the proper intervals, the carrier first and thefingers afterward,

and when the cord has been pushed off the carrier,both together recede,ready for a new move. n

It must be remarked that instead of making the hole f in the plate F, asdescribed, it might be constructed of a series of bars placed togetherin-the form of a truncated cone, or in any other way, producing the sameeffect. After the cord has thus been placed around the bundle, thelatter is released from the tapering hole f, by the action of the nextsucceeding bundle, and it is deposited on a platform J, from which it isswept off by a vibrating arm K, operated at the proper intervals fromthe driving shaft D.

Firmly secured to the front end of the vibrating arm K, is the angularbundle remover K', and the motion of the arm K, is so adjusted that thebundles, as they fly out of the hole f, are caught by the remover K',and prevented from injuring the cord carrier or other parts of themachine.

By these means all the bundles are made perfectly alike, and as thepieces of wood, on being released from the tapering hole f, will expandor spring apart, the cords become perfectly tight.

This machine is of great Value in large cities, where a great mass ofkindling wood is consumed, and those acquaintedwith the business willknow how to appreciate a machine which performs the otherwise tiresomeand slow process of bundling the wood.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The employment of a reciprocating knife C, more or less curved, incombination with the relatively shaped hollow bottom of the hopper B,both operating together for the purpose of gathering, cutting off, and

thus forming conjointly between them, a bundle of wood of the size andshape required, the whole substantially as described.

2. The employment of the conical, or tapering hole f, substantially asdescribed, as a simple means for effectually compressing within it,v theaforesaid loosely gathered bundle, and to firmly hold it while receivingthe cord.

3. The combination of said hole f, and the plunger E, for forcing thebundles into and through said hole, arranged and operating substantiallyas described.

4. The method of arranging the cords l1., on an adjustable sleeve G, andfixed drum H', or their equivalents, substantially as described,enabling the operator to quickly adjust a large number of cords at atime, and to have them at hand in such convenient position, so that saidcords can be readily passed, one after another, on to the cord carrierH, when required.

5. The arrangement of the reciprocating tubular cord-carrier H, and thecombination of the same, and the lingers I, constructed and operatingsubstantially as, and for the purpose set forth.

6. The arrangement of the doubly flanged bundle-remover K', attached toa vibrating arm K, or its equivalent, when operating as and for thepurpose specified.

7. The arrangement and combination Yof the knife C, hopper B, hole f,plunger E, drum H', and sleeve G, cord-carrier H, fingers I, and bundleremover K', constructed and operating substantially in the manner andfor the purpose specified.

CHAS. J. HOBE.

Witnesses:

WM. THOMPSON, M. M. LIVINGSTON.

